1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to information retrieval in a computer network. More particularly, the invention relates to a method to retrieve information in an Internet environment without use of a conventional Web browser.
2. Description of the Related Art
The World Wide Web is the Internet""s multimedia information retrieval system. In the Web environment, client machines effect transactions to Web servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is a known application protocol providing users access to files (e.g., text, graphics, images, sound, video, etc.) using a standard page description language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML provides basic document formatting and allows the developer to specify xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d to other servers and files. In the Internet paradigm, a network path to a server is identified by a so-called Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having a special syntax for defining a network connection. Use of an HTML-compatible browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) at a client machine involves specification of a link via the URL.
When the user of the browser specifies a link, the client issues a request to a naming service to map a hostname (in the URL) to a particular network IP address at which the server is located. The naming service returns an IP address that can respond to the request. Using the IP address, the browser establishes a connection to a server. If the server is available, it returns a Web page. To facilitate further navigation, a Web page typically includes one or more hypertext references known as xe2x80x9canchorsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d. In HTML, each anchor is commonly delineated by a markup language xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d set xe2x80x9c less than a href xe2x80x9cpathnamexe2x80x9d greater than  less than /a greater than xe2x80x9d, where xe2x80x9cpathnamexe2x80x9d is the path information identifying the location of the linked page or object.
Web browser access, however, is not always available when desired. For example, if a user desires to retrieve information from the Web but does not have access to a computer, such information cannot be readily obtained through conventional communication methods.
This invention addresses this need.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide methods for retrieving Web content without use of a computer or a Web browser.
Another primary object of this invention is to provide a method for reading a Web page remotely from a server and without direct use of conventional Web browser technology or Internet services.
Still another object of this invention is to enable a user to read given Web content without access to a computer, a Web browser or an Internet service provider.
A more specific object of this invention is to enable a user to access and read a Web page and to obtain or send a copy of the page (or a URL) through use of alternative Web page access method.
Another more general object of this invention is to provide Web access through use of a telephone device.
Still another important object of this invention is to enable visually-impaired users to obtain access to Web content through use of a telephone-based interface.
Yet another general object of this invention is to provide a remote Web page reader service that is accessible through a conventional telephone network device.
These and other objects of this invention are provided in a method for remote Web page reading. The method enables a user having access to a telephone device to browse the Internet without a Web browser. It begins by establishing a connection between the user""s telephone device and a computer. The computer includes a Web browser and a text-to-speech processor. Using the telephone device, the user enters information identifying a given URL. Typically, the information is entered using the telephone keypad. If the computer supports a voice recognition application, the information may be entered via spoken input and then recognized using the application. The input information is then supplied to the Web browser, which fetches the desired page in the usual manner. The text portions of the Web page are then converted to speech and output to the user over the telephone device. Alternatively, the user may elect to transmit the page to a given fax destination, to e-mail the page to a given e-mail destination address, or to e-mail the URL itself. Using the telephone as an input device, the user may selectively navigate the Web page or explore other links in the page.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a remote Web page delivery service uses a computer accessible through a telephone network. The computer includes a Web browser, a text-to-speech processor, a dual tone multifrequency (xe2x80x9cDTMFxe2x80x9d) detector, and a voice detector. The DTMF detector recognizes telephone keypad codes, and the voice detector recognizes spoken commands. A control program executes on the computer (a) for receiving from a telephone device information (e.g., keypad codes and/or spoken inputs) identifying a URL, (b) for controlling the Web browser to retrieve a Web page identified by the URL; and (c) for controlling the text-to-speech processor to convert given text in the Web page to speech. The speech is then output to the user via the telephone device. As noted above, keypad codes and/or spoken commands may be used to navigate through the page. This service has particular utility in assisting visually-impaired users to access Web page content without use of a Web browser.
The present invention thus enables a user of a conventional telephone device to access and review Web page content without use of an Internet connection, a computer or even a Web browser.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and features of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.